Association of Bureau de Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), has accused the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of plotting to make Travelex, a foreign company the only official outlet for retail foreign exchange transactions in the country.
The association, meanwhile, has said that the Bureaux De Changes (BDC) sub-sector is not the cause of the problem being experienced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the money market.
Aminu Gwadabe, acting president of ABCON, at a press conference in Lagos on Friday after a national meeting of the association, regretted that in an attempt to justify its decision to stop sales of dollars to BDCs, the CBN resorted to casting aspersion on BDCs after issuing licenses to the operators.
The CBN, ABCON alleged, has created the impression that all BDC operated are rent seekers, who do nothing but engage in buying foreign exchange (forex) at low prices,keep it in order to sell when the price goes up.
“Many BDCs are doing legitimate business according to CBN guidelines.
“We believe the main reason is to make the foreign company the only official outlet for retail foreign exchange transactions in the country,”Gwadabe said.
ABCON feared that handing over the retail transactions to the foreign company portends great danger not only for the forex market but the economy as a whole.
“Most of the profits of that company will be repatriated abroad, a development that undermines the nation’s foreign exchange dynamics. Secondly, the company has been found to contravene forex regulations,” Gwadabe alleged.
For example he added, the company was one of the BDCs suspended for not submitting the BVN of its directors as required by CBN (apparently because four out of its five directors were British).
ABCON further said that previous attempt by the foreign company to hijack the retail forex segment through direct sale of travellers’ cheque to the public was fraught with malpractice which led to the sacking of 150 of its staff, and the eventual suspension of the scheme by the CBN.